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Dr. Julia Kline
Julia Kline, PhD

Staff Scientist


Rehabilitation Medicine


BS, University of Illinois
MS, University of Michigan
PhD, University of Michigan


Email: julia.kline@nih.gov
Phone:217-621-0197

Dr. Julia Kline
Julia Kline, PhD

Staff Scientist


Rehabilitation Medicine


BS, University of Illinois
MS, University of Michigan
PhD, University of Michigan


Email: julia.kline@nih.gov
Phone:217-621-0197


Dr. Julia Kline is a Staff Scientist studying how the infant brain acquires motor skills and working on closed-loop neurofeedback for motor neurorehabilitation.


Dr. Kline received her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois. She received her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She also received her Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, where she used non-invasive EEG neuroimaging to study the cortical control of human full-body motion. She then spent three years working on biosensing algorithm development and machine learning applications as a Research Scientist at Fitbit.

Returning to patient-centered research in 2019, she joined a research group at Cincinnati Children’s studying biomarker discovery in a longitudinal cohort of very preterm infants. Using advanced diffusion MRI modeling techniques and graph theory, Dr. Kline derived novel early markers of motor and cognitive impairment, to be used for risk-stratification and early intervention.

As a Staff Scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Diane Damiano, she continues to use non-invasive neuroimaging modalities to study how the infant brain acquires its motor repertoire and also to advance brain-computer interface applications for rehabilitation.

Kline JE, Yuan W, Harpster K, Altaye M, Parikh NA. Association between brain structural network efficiency at term-equivalent age and early development of cerebral palsy in very preterm infants. Neuroimage. 2021 Dec 15;245:118688. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118688.

Kline JE, Illapani VSP, Li H, He L, Yuan W, Parikh NA. Diffuse white matter abnormality in very preterm infants at term reflects reduced brain network efficiency. Neuroimage Clin. 2021;31:102739. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102739.

Kline JE, Sita Priyanka Illapani V, He L, Parikh NA. Automated brain morphometric biomarkers from MRI at term predict motor development in very preterm infants. Neuroimage Clin. 2020;28:102475. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2020.102475.

Kline JE, Illapani VSP, He L, Altaye M, Logan JW, Parikh NA. Early cortical maturation predicts neurodevelopment in very preterm infants. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2020 Sep;105(5):460-465. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2019-317466.

Kline JE, Illapani VSP, He L, Altaye M, Parikh NA. Retinopathy of Prematurity and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia are Independent Antecedents of Cortical Maturational Abnormalities in Very Preterm Infants. Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 23;9(1):19679. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56298-x.

Kline JE, Huang HJ, Snyder KL, Ferris DP. Cortical Spectral Activity and Connectivity during Active and Viewed Arm and Leg Movement. Front Neurosci. 2016 Mar 10;10:91. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00091.

Kline JE, Huang HJ, Snyder KL, Ferris DP. Isolating gait-related movement artifacts in electroencephalography during human walking. J Neural Eng. 2015 Aug;12(4):046022. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/12/4/046022.

Kline JE, Poggensee K, Ferris DP. Your brain on speed: cognitive performance of a spatial working memory task is not affected by walking speed. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 May 8;8:288. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00288.


  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship recipient

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This page last updated on 01/13/2023

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